Research for new TV, Need your help!

 

New member
Username: Phantasie

Post Number: 1
Registered: Sep-04
Hi All.

I have several questions regarding TV's that Im looking to buy for my basement. It will be used for watching DVD's (home theater setup), video games, and TV (alternating with upstairs 27inch, ie secondary). Im leaning towards a rear projection in the 45-52 inch range. I dont want to go nuts money wise (ie plasma), since my wife wont allow me, and I cant really justify it for a basement TV. I live in Canada. Budget is $1500-$2000 CND.

With that out of the way:

1) Will a regular TV signal look bad (I have a Bell xpress view satallite dish, but its not HDTV afaik)? Picture quality at ones ive looked at in BB, etc look good, but from reading other posts Im starting to believe they are all coming from a HD feed.

2) Related to #1 - How will my DVD (non progressive scan) look (I know its a general question :-) ).

3) Is there any use for digital inputs (ie DVI) besides a HDTV signal?

4) Is there a brand that stands out above the rest for quality, reliabilty, etc? Obviously my final decision will be based mainly on me looking at the TV and guaging how it looks.

5) Are there any compelling reasons to wait with purchasing the TV (ie expected price drop for a better technology). Again, a general question - I realize you can wait forever in high-tech for the next best thing.

6) Can anyone reccomend any other fourms that have this type of information. Also, are there any web sites which give overviews of what to look for when buying a rear projection TV? Ive looked and found some with elementary information.

7) On average, how reliable are rear projection TV's? By average I mean - Ive owned various tube TV's and never had problems with them. Apart from a freak accident, I would hate to spend 2K on a TV and have it need a couple $100 repair in 3 years. Im asking since ive heard (myths) of reliabilty for rear projections.

Thanks in advance, and looking forward to your responses!
 

New member
Username: Phantasie

Post Number: 2
Registered: Sep-04
Bump.

Come on people - there must be experts here dying to give their opinion!

BTW, I was referring to CRT based rear projection above.

Thanks!
 

Will Jones
Unregistered guest
Well let's see what I can do:

1. Regular channels will look slightly better than they would on a standard TV. Just don't expect it to be too much better. Some channels will look better than others.

2. DVDs (Progressive Scan or not) will look great on any HDTV. Try to get S-video cables if you can.

3. Don't know much about DVI.

4. Mitsubishi, Hitachi, and Samsung are pretty reliable brands.

5. I don't know of any price drops.

6. Don't know.

7. I'd say they are pretty reliable, but I don't own one. Just be sure not to play the same video game for more then an hour or two at a time or else a button icon or energy meter could burn into the screen. Almost every HDTV will need some kind of lamp/projector replacement after 3 to 6 years. I don't think they cost too much.

Hope that helps!
 

Retired Greg
Unregistered guest
6) If you don't mind stretching your budget by $1000, can't miss the forum at avs.com about rptv:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=63
 

Bronze Member
Username: Daddyrabbit

Post Number: 38
Registered: May-04
To be honest if you are primarily going to be watching your current sources and to stay in your budget you would probably be better served buying a nice direct view CRT.

In your price range you are looking at CRT RPTV.

One thing to keep in mind as you get bigger in screen size is that "standard definition" signals will look "grainier" and this is unavoidable (think of blowing up a picture and how that makes it look slightly grainier).

If you don't intend to move up to HDTV any time soon, or to go the newer route with DVDs (e.g. progressive scan or DVI) then you will get better performance from a great SD direct view tube and miss out on all of the pains of RPTV, like burn-in, stretch modes, bulb/tube replacement etc.

I have a 61" DLP with HDTV PVR, PS2, HTPC, Component DVD, and a nice Onkyo surround system and love it but I could use all af the above just as well (minus the HD PVR) with a $ 1100 BIG direct view for much cheaper and IMHO higher reliability.

My 2 pennies,,,
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